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Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 12, 2026

Brain Imaging Investigation of the Memory-Enhancing Effect of Emotion

Brain Imaging Investigation of the Memory-Enhancing Effect of Emotion

Published on: May 4, 2011

Facial feedback on the perception and memory for emotional faces.

Ivan Nabil Ras¹, Monica Bucciarelli^1,2, Francesco Ianì^1,2

¹Department of Psychology, Università degli Studi di Torino, Via Verdi, 10, Turin, 10124, Italy.

Psychological Research

|May 11, 2026

Summary

The facial feedback hypothesis suggests facial movements influence emotions. This study found that smiling muscles, when activated by a pen between teeth, enhanced positive perception of happy faces but did not affect memory.

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Area of Science:

Psychology
Cognitive Neuroscience
Emotion Research

Background:

The facial feedback hypothesis posits that facial expressions influence emotional experiences.
Embodied emotion theories suggest that bodily states are integral to emotional processing.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the impact of facial manipulation on the perception and memory of emotional faces.
To test the facial feedback hypothesis using a pen-in-mouth paradigm.

Main Methods:

Experiment 1: Participants rated emotional faces (happy, neutral, angry) with a pen held between teeth (smile-facilitating) or lips (smile-inhibiting).
Experiment 2: Assessed long-term memory for emotional faces using the same pen-in-mouth manipulation during recognition.
Utilized a within-subjects design to compare perception and memory under different facial feedback conditions.

Main Results:

Facial feedback significantly enhanced positive ratings for happy faces but not for angry or neutral faces.
No significant differences in recognition accuracy or speed were found between conditions in the memory task.
Angry faces showed slower evaluation times in Experiment 1 and higher accuracy in Experiment 2.

Conclusions:

The pen-in-mouth manipulation selectively affects the perception of positive (happy) facial expressions.
Facial feedback does not appear to influence long-term memory for emotional faces under these experimental conditions.
Findings contribute to understanding the complex interplay between facial actions, emotional perception, and memory.